Quercus incana | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fagales |
Family: | Fagaceae |
Genus: | Quercus |
Subgenus: | Quercus subg. Quercus |
Section: | Quercus sect. Lobatae |
Species: | Q. incana |
Binomial name | |
Quercus incana Bartram 1791 not Roxb. 1832 | |
Natural range | |
Synonyms [2] | |
List
|
Quercus incana is a species of oak known by the common names bluejack oak, upland willow oak, sandjack oak, and cinnamon oak. It is native to the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains of the United States, from Virginia around Florida to Texas and inland to Oklahoma and Arkansas. [3]
Quercus incana is a tree growing to about 10 meters (33 feet) in height, [4] with a maximum height around 15 m (49 ft). [3] The "national champion bluejack" was a specimen from Texas that was 15.5 m (51 ft) tall and 2.1 m (7 ft) in circumference, and had a crown spread of 17 m (56 ft). [3] The trunk is short and the crooked branches form an open, irregular crown. The platy bark is dark brown or black. The leaves are generally oval and up to 10 centimeters long by 3.5 cm wide. They are glossy green on top and woolly-haired and bluish in color underneath. The name bluejack refers to this bluish and ashy appearance of the leaves. [5] The acorn is up to 1.7 cm long by 1.6 cm wide, not counting the cap. The oak reproduces by seed and by resprouting from the rootcrown when the upper parts are removed. It can form thickets by spreading underground runners. [3]
Quercus incana often grows in longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystems, where it shares the understory with turkey oak (Q. laevis) and wiregrass (Aristida stricta). In the Big Thicket of Texas it codominates with post oak (Q. stellata) and a number of pines. The oak can be found on sandy soils. It grows downslope from ridgetops, where the soils are finer and less dry than the tops of the ridges. It is well adapted to wildfire and grows in habitat where fire is common and often required, such as longleaf pine ecosystems. The oak does not tolerate dense shade and requires fire to remove taller, more robust oaks that would otherwise outcompete it. [3]
The acorns provide food for many animal species including the Sherman's fox squirrel, which lives in longleaf pine communities. [3]
The wood of Q. incana is hard and strong, but the trees are usually too small to be useful except as fuel or posts. [3]
Quercus kelloggii, the California black oak or Kellogg oak, is an oak in the red oak section native to western North America. Although genetically separated from them for more than 20 million years, its leaves are remarkably similar in appearance to several other members of the red oak section including the red oak and the black oak found in eastern and central North America.
Quercus marilandica, the blackjack oak, is a small oak, one of the red oak group Quercus sect. Lobatae. It is native to the eastern and central United States.
Quercus muehlenbergii, the chinquapinoak, is a deciduous species of tree in the white oak group. The species was often called Quercus acuminata in older literature. Quercus muehlenbergii is native to eastern and central North America. It ranges from Vermont to Minnesota, south to the Florida panhandle, and west to New Mexico in the United States. In Canada it is only found in southern Ontario, and in Mexico it ranges from Coahuila south to Hidalgo.
Quercus velutina, the black oak, is a species of oak in the red oak group, native and widespread in eastern and central North America. It is sometimes called the eastern black oak.
Quercus virginiana, also known as the southern live oak, is an evergreen oak tree endemic to the Southeastern United States. Though many other species are loosely called live oak, the southern live oak is particularly iconic of the Old South. Many very large and old specimens of live oak can be found today in the Deep South region of the United States.
Quercus michauxii, the swamp chestnut oak, is a species of oak in the white oak section Quercus section Quercus in the beech family. It is native to bottomlands and wetlands in the southeastern and midwestern United States, in coastal states from New Jersey to Texas, inland primarily in the Mississippi–Ohio Valley as far as Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.
Quercus laevis, the turkey oak, is a member of the red oak group of oaks. It is native to the southeastern United States. The name turkey oak derives from the resemblance of the leaves to a turkey's foot. A Turkish and southern European species Quercus cerris is also commonly referred to as Turkey oak, so Quercus laevis is sometimes referred to as American turkey oak to distinguish it from the European species.
Quercus laurifolia is a medium-sized semi-evergreen oak in the red oak section Quercus sect. Lobatae. It is native to the southeastern and south-central the United States.
Quercus douglasii, known as blue oak, is a species of oak endemic to California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is California's most drought-tolerant deciduous oak, and is a dominant species in the blue oak woodland ecosystem. It is occasionally known as mountain oak and iron oak.
Quercus falcata, also called southern red oak, spanish oak, bottomland red oak or three-lobed red oak is an oak. Native to the southeastern United States, it gets its name the "Spanish Oak" as these are the areas of early Spanish colonies, whilst "southern red oak" comes from both its range and leaf color during late summer and fall. The southern red oak is a deciduous angiosperm, so has leaves that die after each growing period and come back in the next period of growth.
Quercus gambelii, with the common name Gambel oak, is a deciduous small tree or large shrub that is widespread in the foothills and lower mountains of western North America. It is also regionally called scrub oak, oak brush, and white oak.
Quercus lyrata, the overcup oak, is an oak in the white oak group. The common name, overcup oak, refers to its acorns that are mostly enclosed within the acorn cup. It is native to lowland wetlands in the eastern and south-central United States, in all the coastal states from New Jersey to Texas, inland as far as Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois. There are historical reports of it growing in Iowa, but the species appears to have been extirpated there. It is a slow-growing tree that often takes 25 to 30 years to mature. It has an estimated lifespan of 400 years.
Quercus nigra, the water oak, is an oak in the red oak group, native to the eastern and south-central United States, found in all the coastal states from New Jersey to Texas, and inland as far as Oklahoma, Kentucky, and southern Missouri. It occurs in lowlands and up to 450 meters in elevation.
Quercus havardii is a deciduous, low-growing, thicket-forming shrub that occupies some two million to three million hectares in the southern Great Plains of North America. Clones may reach hundreds to thousands of years old, although aboveground stems typically live only 11 to 15 years. Shinnery oak stems are usually 1 to 2 metres tall and codominate the plant community with mid- and tall-grasses, which are usually taller than the oaks.
Quercus turbinella is a North American species of oak known by the common names shruboak, turbinella oak, shrub live oak, and gray oak. It is native to Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Nevada in the western United States. It also occurs in northern Mexico.
Quercus arizonica, the Arizona white oak, is a North American tree species in the beech family. It is found in Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sinaloa, and Durango.
Quercus oblongifolia, commonly known as the Mexican blue oak, Arizona blue oak, Blue live oak or Sonoran blue oak, is an evergreen small tree or large shrub in the white oak group.
Quercus grisea, commonly known as the gray oak, shin oak or scrub oak, is a North American species deciduous or evergreen shrub or medium-sized tree in the white oak group. It is native to the mountains of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It hybridises with four other oak species where the ranges overlap, the Arizona white oak (Q. arizonica), the Gambel oak (Q. gambelii), the Mohr oak (Q. mohriana) and the sandpaper oak (Q. pungens).
Quercus hypoleucoides, the silverleaf oak or the whiteleaf oak, is a North American species of oak tree or shrub. It grows in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
Quercus myrtifolia, the myrtle oak, is a North American species of oak. It is native to the southeastern United States. It is often found in coastal areas on sandy soils.